Second year of TechStars to include San Antonio contenders

Two San Antonio companies have been selected for the 2013 TechStars Cloud class that begins Jan. 14.

San Antonio-based Trueability and Parlevel will be among a dozen promising startups that will participate in the three-month mentoring and business development program sponsored by Rackspace Hosting.

TechStars Cloud launched in San Antonio last year with an inaugural class of 11 companies from locales as diverse as San Francisco, Miami, New York and Boston, but none from Texas.

At the time, Jason Seats, managing director of TechStars Cloud, said that the lack of Texas participants was to be expected and added it may take a few years to establish a thriving local tech community able to produce companies that can compete on the national level. First, Seats said, the “chicken or egg” problem would have to be overcome.

“You can’t have a healthy community of tech start-ups without an active investment community providing financial support,” Seats said at the time. “And you can’t have a strong investment community without promising tech start-ups for them to invest in.”

That problem seems to have been resolved this year with two San Antonio companies being selected out of hundreds of applicants. This year’s class continues the emerging culture of startups for San Antonio’s tech community, Seats says.

“We’re helping awesome founders build great companies,” he adds. “We want TechStars Cloud to be a catalyst for San Antonio’s startup community.”

New space, resources

The second class of TechStars Cloud will work on the newly renovated 10th floor in Geekdom — the collaborative workspace in the Weston Centre downtown. The startups receive intensive mentorship from a network of industry advisors and entrepreneurs, including top executives from local cloud-computing giant Rackspace Hosting (NYSE: RAX).

Each startup team receives $18,000 in cash and $100,000 in convertible debt financing at the beginning of the program. In exchange, TechStars Cloud receives equity in the companies. The mentorship, resources and other perks provided to the startups are valued at $277,000, Seats says.

The Cloud program is part of TechStars, a world-renowned accelerator program, Seats says. There are five TechStars programs in the U.S. — in Boston, New York, Seattle, Boulder and now in San Antonio.

The first TechStars Cloud class raised more than $16 million, including $2.5 million from a locally managed fund. That fund is currently raising capital for the 2013 class and has a $4 million goal this year, Seats says.

“We’re fortunate as local investors to have an opportunity to evaluate and invest in technology startups that bring such a wealth of world-class talent,” says John Mosher, a member of the general partner in Cloud Power Seed Fund 2013. “TechStars Cloud is one of the best accelerator programs and it’s extremely important for the emerging tech hub that is growing in San Antonio.”

Following the three-month process, the 2013 TechStars Cloud class will present on Demo Day, April 18, 2013.

Seats says after last year’s program, he has had the opportunity to make a lot of minor tweaks to the program; however, it will still follow the same basic plan.

Many of last year’s participants will be back to serve as mentors and help the new participants throughout the program.

“We have built this concept of alumni and they all have an eagerness to help the next class get the most out of the program that they can,” Seats says.